Bangor beat Nomads in Nantporth rematch

Connah’s Quay Nomads succumbed to their second loss of the JD Welsh Premier League season at Bangor City on Tuesday evening.

A 75th minute Gary Taylor-Fletcher goal was enough to hand Bangor a home victory in a game where three points for either side would send them top of the table.

The game was a rearranged fixture after Nomads’ original trip to Bangor was abandoned due to floodlight failure in the 41st minute.  The Nomads came into the game off the back of a well earned 1-0 victory over Cardiff Met, whilst Bangor won a dramatic encounter at Aberystwyth 3-2.

Andy Morrison named an unchanged lineup from the previous Saturday’s squad with the exception of the injured Matty Williams who was replaced by Matty Owen.

The game’s opening stages saw The Nomads threaten the Bangor end, and in the fifth minute a golden chance to go ahead went amiss when George Horan sent a volley just over the Bangor goal from seven yards out.

The Nomads then had a corner taken by Woolfe which went to Jay Owen, who couldn’t quite get underneath the ball to test Bangor goalkeeper Connor Roberts.

Woolfe continued to play dangerous crosses into the Bangor area, with one delivery looking as if it was going to beat Roberts before going narrowly wide in the ninth minute.

Bangor soon hit back from The Nomads’ early pressure and began to test Danby who made a number of vital stops throughout the game.

Dean Rittenburg forced a corner, before Brayden Shaw tried a trademark long distance shot which the Nomads keeper held.  Bangor again went close in the 17th minute, when a Miley header deflected off Sean Smith to complicate matters for John Danby who still managed to save.

Shaw returned to the Nomads’ final third in the 26th minute, getting past Smith and forcing Danby to come off his line where he made a great low block with his legs to deny the Bangor attacker.

Despite a lively first half an hour of action, the game’s paced slowed before the interval as both sides accepted a tough second half was afoot.  Danby continued to be a mainstay for Nomads with saves against the likes of Damien Allen.

The second half again saw Nomads and Bangor keen to find a way past each other, and with the hour mark approaching the game in front of a 500 strong crowd grew tense.

Gary Taylor-Fletcher sent a number of precise passes into the Nomads’
area, but Joe Heath made a number of good blocks to stop the home attack getting through.

The Nomads then made a change, seeing Mathias Bakare replace Matty Owen with around 25 minutes to play.  In the 70th minute Bangor put The Nomads' goal under serious pressure, which would eventually pay dividends. Horan blocked a Luke Wall effort inside the Nomads area, before Gossett missed an open goal chance in the 72nd minute.

Bangor eventually found their goal via Gary Taylor Fletcher whose strike converted a well placed cross to send the ball into the left hand side of The Nomads’ goal.

BANGOR 1-0 CEI CONNAH
Taylor-Fletcher yn gyrru Bangor i'r brig. | @GTF_12 with the only goal of the game as @bangorcityfc go top of the WPL. pic.twitter.com/qOCiThRnDu

— sgorio (@sgorio) 26 September 2017

With time running out, The Nomads introduced Michael Bakare but a Bangor side determined to hold onto their lead restricted The Nomads’ possession.

There was late drama in the 90th minute as George Horan, who was on a yellow card, was found to have held Rittenburg in the Bangor area.  Subsequently Horan was shown a second yellow and dismissed, with Bangor awarded a penalty.

Rittenburg stepped up and skied his effort to keep The Nomads in the game, but Bangor held on for the victory, which sends them to the top of the JD Welsh Premier League table.

The Nomads will look to get back to winning ways away at Newtown AFC on Saturday evening in a live televised S4C Sgorio fixture.

Match Report by Will Catterall